An exciting day of evangelism in Yarmouth

2017: Evangelist and former Baptist Union President Chris Duffett led a team from Park Baptist Church onto the streets of Great Yarmouth on Thursday August 31 to share God’s love in creative new ways. Rev Peter Timothy shares some highlights from the day.

“A day spent with Chris Duffett helped dispel lots of our preconceived ideas about evangelism and introduced some new ways of gently sharing God’s love and opening up conversations with people who don’t yet know Jesus. Chris is (among other things) a minister, evangelist, and city centre chaplain in Peterborough, and with his help a group of around 20 from Park Baptist Church headed into town for the day.

“Having spent the morning in prayer - both in the church and prayer walking the town - Chris introduced us to some simple ideas, including prophetic painting, giving out free fruit labelled with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and signs offering free hugs. We were also each issued with 1 copy of Mark’s gospel, with the challenge of giving it away to someone who would actually read it.

“Pitching up in the marketplace, the free huggers were amazed at the response, with people of all ages responding positively and one individual receiving prayer after a conversation sprang out of the hug. Lots of conversations were had and further opportunities for prayer took place, including with one man who shared he was feeling suicidal, but was drawn to the sign on one piece of fruit saying peace."

The day continued with painting, ‘treasure hunting’, which involved praying and asking God for some basic details about a person God wanted the team to find and pray for, and plenty more prayer. The team were hugely encouraged by the response throughout the day, and intend to make this a monthly activity as they continue to step out in faith and grow in confidence in sharing God’s love in Yarmouth.

The photo shows the team from Park Baptist Church led by Chris Duffett (in the plain blue shirt) and is courtesy of Anna Cowles.